Lot 74
SIR EDUARDO PAOLOZZI K.B.E., R.A., H.R.S.A. (SCOTTISH 1924-2005) §
'STAR WARS' CONFECTION
Auction: 17 August 2017 at 12:00 BST
Description
Plaster relief maquette
Dimensions
36cm x 13cm (14in x 5in)
Footnote
Provenance: Gifted to the current owner by the artist
Note: Paolozzi began to make the quasi-cubist sculptures which were to figure among his signature works, in the 1970s. The plaster sculptures now offered for sale fit loosely into this aspect of his work, although dating from the 1990s. Paolozzi was particularly keen that plaster should achieve a higher status than had previously been the case and his works in the medium were often not cast in any other material. They were cast from a variety of sources, some being taken from the 'ready-mades' in his studio, while others were made to the artist's original, sometimes existing designs.
The Crocodile was among a number of small animal sculptures made specifically for the Arche Noah, (Noah's Ark), exhibition staged in Munich in 1990. In contrast heads were a constant in Paolozzi's work, from the 1950s onwards, and the large Cubist Head fits within a series made from the late 1980s into the 1990s. The smaller Computer Head, while less obviously totemic, is clearly a comment upon the effects of technology upon our humanity. Perhaps the most personal of the plaster works here is the Leg, which relates directly to those of Paolozzi's sculpture Daedalus, his body constructed from fragments on a Frankenstinian model. In Greek myth, Daedalus was the builder of the Cretan labyrinth and Paolozzi seems to have seen him as a kindred spirit and probably considered the work a self-portrait.